My lovely guest today is Nancy Kelley whose book, His Good Opinion has just been released! Congratulations Nancy!!! I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy recently when we met up at the British Museum to gaze at Jane Austen's desk together. We'd 'met' on Twitter, and when I heard Nancy was coming to London I suggested a day out-we had a lovely time discussing all things Jane and our writing dreams. Nancy's first dream has just been realised, now that her book is out. I wish you huge success, Nancy, and hope that many more of your dreams are fulfilled! Nancy kindly agreed to be a guest on my blog, and she is offering a copy of His Good Opinion as a prize. Her question is this: What behind-the-scenes Darcy moment would you most like to read?Leave a comment below to have a chance to win! I had a few questions I wanted to ask her, and she's also treated us to chapter one of her book! 1. Have you always wanted to be a writer? What inspired you to start writing? Earlier this…

Here are just a few photos of the lovely authors who gathered to meet for the London Chapter, Romantic Novelist's Association Christmas Party last Saturday. I wish I could describe for you the amazing atmosphere these occasions merit - take a group of authors who don't see one another very often - and I think you can imagine the cacophony of sound - a mixture of discussion and much laughter. Of course, this sort of affair wouldn't be the same without the added delights of festive food and drink, and the whole so wonderfully orchestrated by Jean Fullerton and Juliet Archer! From seasoned writers to the very newest on the New Writer's Scheme, a brilliant time was had by all!!!If you are a budding writer of romance and live in the UK, I can't recommend this association enough. The New Writer's Scheme exists to help those who want to improve their writing, or for those seeking publication. Do have a look at the website for more information. I joined a few years ag…

When I was writing Mr. Darcy's Secret I was lucky enough to take a trip to Derbyshire for inspiration and research. In my book Elizabeth Bennet's aunt, Mrs. Gardiner, has a friend, Mrs. Butler, who lives in Lambton. We know, of course, that Mrs. Gardiner lived in Lambton herself once upon a time so I assumed she would have made friends there.
I stayed in the village of Beeley on the Chatsworth estate and it was here that I was very taken with the house below which I thought would be a good starting point for Mrs. Butler's house. Although not quite exactly as the house I'd imagined in my head, it certainly ran on similar lines. I'd imagined a stone house with mullioned windows - perhaps a little more set back from the road, a little larger in size, and with a grander front door, but I was very pleased with this one nevertheless. The interior of Mrs. Butler's house was inspired by a house that I knew as a child. The room belonged to a friend of my mother's an…

My lovely guest today is Victoria Connelly, the author of A Weekend with Mr Darcy, and The Perfect Hero, two books inspired by Jane Austen. She has a new book out, Mr Darcy Forever, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and if you've read any of Victoria's other books, I'm sure you'll enjoy this too! I have lovely memories of showing Victoria around Bath during the Jane Austen Festival, taking tea in the Pump Rooms and looking at all the wonderful costumes in the Fashion Museum. I seem to remember we spied a particularly dashing Mr Darcy figure on the promenade walk... I asked Victoria to tell us a little more about her books and the characters she writes about. What made you want to write novels inspired by Jane Austen? I’d been visiting lots of the Jane Austen locations: Chawton in Hampshire, Lyme Regis and Bath and I was really inspired by how beautiful they were and I thought they’d make great settings for novels. I quickly came up with an idea for a trilogy: three separate bo…

My husband took these magical images on bonfire night-I think they're all fantastic but the romantic in me is very taken with the heart - ah, young love! What fun you can have with a packet of sparklers!!!

I was contacted recently by Brad Wirz, the founder of a remarkable new company set up to benefit people in parts of the world where reading is a luxurious privilege not open to everyone. It's very hard to imagine not having access to libraries, teachers and books in our societies so when Brad wrote and said that 100%of the profits that are made from the gifts they sell go towards making reading and literacy a real possibility in the developing world, I was very happy to help spread the word! I think you'll be particularly interested in the range of Jane Austen Gifts which will not only make fabulous presents, but will be helping others less fortunate than ourselves. I also love the fact that Brad has risen to the challenge of attempting to read Jane Austen himself, and you can read his thoughts on our favourite author. Here's a little more about Gone Reading and its founder, Brad Wirz. Gone Reading International – maker of the GoneReading brand of gifts for readers – was fou…